A first-grade teacher barricaded herself into a bathroom with 15 students. This is first grade, so we’re probably talking 5 and 6 year olds:

“I said, ‘There are bad guys out there now. We need to wait for the good guys,'” she told ABC News.

“The kids were being so good,” she said. “They asked, ‘Can we go see if anyone is out there?’ ‘I just want Christmas. I don’t want to die, I just want to have Christmas.’ I said, ‘You’re going to have Christmas and Hanukkah.'”

One student claimed to know karate. “It’s OK. I’ll lead the way out,” the student said.

Enough. I’m tired of the gun nuts. I’m tired of the politicians, and political parties, who either whore for them, or are mortally afraid of them. And I’m tired of gun control advocates who don’t seem have the stomach for a real fight.

It’s over. Enough talk about an assault weapons ban that nobody has the backbone to even bring up. It’s time we ended our national love affair with guns, violence and death. The time for compromise, which was really only serial capitulation, is over. It’s time to ban guns once and for all.

John AravosisFollow me on Twitter: @aravosis | @americablog | @americabloggay | Facebook | Instagram | Google+ | LinkedIn. John Aravosis is the Executive Editor of AMERICAblog, which he founded in 2004. He has a joint law degree (JD) and masters in Foreign Service from Georgetown; and has worked in the US Senate, World Bank, Children's Defense Fund, the United Nations Development Programme, and as a stringer for the Economist. He is a frequent TV pundit, having appeared on the O'Reilly Factor, Hardball, World News Tonight, Nightline, AM Joy & Reliable Sources, among others. John lives in New York City, and is the cofounder of TimeToResign.com. Bio, article archive.

If the NRA hadn’t gone so full-on crazy maybe people would let them back in the schools.

dula

How did we think we could traipse around the world killing innocent men, women, and children and not suffer any sort of tragic response from a metaphysical perspective. You don’t have to believe in God to observe certain laws of cause and effect in play. Unfortunately, it’s usually the innocent and fragile who end up paying the price, rather than the perpetrators themselves and it will always seem more horrific when it happens to your own. That is not an excuse, however. Live by the sword, die by the sword, even indirectly. I realize many won’t see any connection at all to this heartbreaking tragedy, in the same way many couldn’t see any connection between our actions in the world and 911.

As long as war is regarded as wicked it will always
have its fascinations. When it is looked upon as vulgar, it will cease
to be popular.

Gray Coyote

She did, and in doing so fucked us for almost a generation.

Gray Coyote

I don’t know how you can compare PPACA adoption with gun control. Some gun owners (like myself) supported access to health care for all in order to expand mental health treatment availability.

Gray Coyote

” I guess kissing their asses and paying out some bucks would work.”

Dunno about kissing their asses, but gun control organizations are for the most part politically irrelevant.

You will not be able convince the Legislatures of 34 states to call for a constitutional convention, or 38 states to ratify a 2A repeal/arms control amendment, when 44 of those states have a state RKBA clauses. There will always be 13 states to block any such Article V amendment.

Let’s say for some reason this manages to actually happen (0 percent likelyhood).

You’d need a large army to take all of the guns. House to house searches using federal agents & resources, nationwide (4th amendment? Warrant requirement? What’s that?). Some homes simply will not cooperate, and some many even have gas masks to resist tear gas. Would a laser guided bomb on their house dropped by an F/A-18 work? Are the children inside acceptable casualties, too?

This goal of a total ban on guns, is 100 percent impossible. There will always be 13 states willing to block a 2A repeal/arms control amendment.

This I agree with. Though the Prop 8 case may not be the specific vehicle for marriage equality nationwide, it’s step 2 of the 4 steps needed (DOMA Section 3 struck down is Step 1, which the surviving spouses situation would be solved). Jackson v. Abercrombie & Sevcik v. Sandoval (civil unions/domestic partnerships available, but marriages not, equal protection cases) are step 3. A case out of one of the oppressor states against marriage equality would be Step 4.

colleen2

The fact that other sorts of laws are selectively enforced in has nothing at all tpo do with my point. That said, I take exception to the following statement:

“While these types of mass murder incidents are now being reported in the
24/7 news cycle echo chamber and made to seem more ghastly than they
already are”

While I loathe the folks who have been aggressively sticking their mics in the faces of grieving family members and little children I think it;s impossible to make this sort any more ghastly than the actual facts

Be AFRAID, be very afraid! Odd you would quote a heroin addict as your reference source and of course a Glock is just the thing to shoot down a drone or stop an serious military assault. Enjoy guns, be safe.

“All gone now due to political correctness.” As usual your brain is mired in the bullshit of right wing propaganda. Seriously….you think its a matter of political correctness. Have you even considered ‘public safety’? Change your name to thinkingjerks.

Your generation is our future. We early Boomers totally relate to the experience and passion of your generation and see in you what hope we may still carry. As for, “What are we doing?” the answer is certainly, manifested a media environment which has created a reality, a society of the spectacle, whose essence is the celebration of fear, suffering and death—as entertainment.

I hate that in this gun control debate that we have to hate guns. I know that sounds weird. There’s not inherently anything wrong with guns. But because we live amongst such an irresponsible gun culture the formula is much different than in other countries.

The gun ownership to homicide ratio in Canada, or any other Western country with permissive gun laws, is extremely low. And Canada has a lot of mf-ing guns. In Canada, for example, people own guns because they like guns, they’re aficionados, or they like to hunt (Canada, of course, is mostly rural). Whereas in America, we own guns because of fear: fear of scary black people coming into our homes, stealing our things and deflowering our daughters; fear that the government will become too tyrannical. We use our firepower as a means of intimidation.

Gun owners have left us no choice but to call for gun control. They have had their opportunity to propagate a culture of responsibility with guns. I don’t want to restrict guns, I want to live in a place where people can have dangerous things but be wise in their use and in their rationale for having them.

I agree. I reject the premise that I shouldn’t ever have the right to be happy because life sucks for people elsewhere.

And I’m an Iraq war veteran, but I opposed the war. But I think you’re right. The sectarian violence is mostly the result, in my opinion, of the growing pains of a democracy. These factions suddenly made themselves known and had the right to confront each other for the first time in years. That would have happened had we had a part in deposing of Hussein or they, themselves, did.

It would be the same as if we suddenly overthrew the federal government. Hard left and hard right people would both want control. For the first time there would be no apparatus in charge of enforcing peace between the sides.

Freedonian

It is not just the gun laws that are selectively enforced, and that is a major problem in and of itself.

Freedonian

Interesting first observation, and while I agree with your second statement, the PPACA is a subject for another day.

SkippyFlipjack

I’m sure there’s lots to be said about guns, society and mental health. But I just want to cry.

colleen2

Thus far the gun laws on the books are implemented selectively. For instance, I notice that many women trying to defend themselves from rape or domestic violence end up in jail (even for firing a warning shot) while the STG laws appear to have been designed to turn CCW’s into hunting permits for white right wing bullies.

thinkingworks

Should Matthew Shepherd have carried a gun? And if he had killed his attackers would that have been justified? Just wondering…

thinkingworks

The NRA used to conduct gun safety classes in public schools. In fact, there was a time that marksmanship was taught in schools. All gone now due to political correctness.

thinkingworks

Understandably, the emotion that follows a mass shooting, gives rise to calls for restricting or banning guns. But there are several points that should be considered in a thoughtful manner, and intelligent people should be able to give reasoned arguments one way or the other:

1. There are at least 300 million privately owned firearms in this country. For the sake of argument, assume that there is an immediate ban on private firearms. And assume that all law-abiding citizens turn in their guns. WIll criminals turn in theirs? Gang members? Drug cartels? These are people who already willingful violate laws against murder, armed robbery, durg dealing. Are they suddenly going to OBEY gun laws?

2. On that note, the only realistic defense against a crime like home invasion or burglary is a gun in the house. If I am upstairs in my bedroom and I hear a break-in, I can grab any one of three guns within reach. If I yell out that I have a gun, or even fire a shot into the floor, there’s a good chance the criminal will leave. Certainly I’m safer than if I huddle in my bed. CBS 60 Minutes did a piece years ago where they interviewed burglars in prison and NONE of them were concerned about alarms or homeowners calling the police — because they knew they would be in an out of the house long before a security company guard or police officer arrived on the scene.

3. There is a famous Harvard study called “More Guns = Less Crime.” It is now in its fourth printing. The authors admit that when they started the study years ago, they were anti-gun, but the hard statistics changed their minds. Consider for example, the murder rate in places like Chicago, Washington DC, and New York that until recently banned handguns completely. Consider the murder rate of Washington DC in 2010, when handguns were still completely banned. Gun control activists will argue that its because Washington DC is next to Virginia, where guns are easily available. Then why does Fairfax County, Virginia have the LOWEST murder rate in the United States for any “urbanized” county.

4. Some jurisdistions, like Oakland, California, and Israel, have strong, visible, armed guards in their schools. It works.

5. Some folks like to claim that gun owners like guns because they are compensating for something. There’s a very good pro-gun advertisement that shows a young petite woman, stating that she carries a gun to compensate for the fact that a assailant (in other words, rapist) is likely to be much stronger and bigger than her. Would you seriously deny her the protection of a handgun?

6. And finally, there is the issue of protection against the government. William S. Burroughs once commented that he would not “want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the military and police.” We all suffer under the naivete that we don’t need guns against our government because it is benign. (And on the whole, it is). But no benevolent democracy has lasted in history. Given the huge increase in people joining fundamentalist churches, consider a nightmare future scenario where US gov’t is run by religious nuts, intent on outlawing homosexuality, for example. Do you really want to be defenseless against that government?
Personally, I would gladly give up my guns on one simple condition: proof that every criminal in America has been completely disarmed and there is no way they can get more weapons.
I know a lot of people will react to this post with nasty remarks and insults. I expect that. But I would also hope that someone of obvious intelligence and thoughtfulness, like John A., would provide reasoned answers to each of the points.

Just_AC

And I’m on a right leaning blog that blames this incident on teachers not being able to carry weapons

silas1898

The chain of events leading to a huge disaster often begins with a very small unrelated action. I am surprised she would veto something like that.

Sei

I realize that it doesn’t fit the whole “US citizens can never truly know what it is to suffer because drones and Bush” narrative, but the vast majority of violence in Iraq has been sectarian. That’s only our fault insofar as we removed the bloody, despotic dictator that was preventing sectarian violence through the implementation of torture and summary executions. And if the US is a violence-loving, trigger-happy culture with collective PTSD, the entire WORLD should be concerned.

caphillprof

We would have gun laws overnight if progressives would all buy guns, carry them and occasionally use them. Red States would be the first to ban guns, just as Red States are now embracing federal run health care rather than pursuing the state option.

caphillprof

SCOTUS doesn’t have to decree a constitutional right for same sex marriage. All SCOTUS needs to do is say, 1) marriage is traditionally up to the states and not up tot he feds, 2) the feds must acknowledge any marriage valid in the state where it was formed, and 3) every state must give full faith and credit to marriages validly entered in any other state. Everybody’s problems would be solved.

caphillprof

Think how you would feel if you lived in Iraq.

caphillprof

This is crass commercialism parading as a constitutional issue. Gun owners should muster on the village green once a month just so we know their weapons are working and they have half an idea how to handle them.

Otherwise, no guns for you.

Gray Coyote

Just to add:

Here’s a tidbit: What caused Ann Richards to lose her re-election in 1994, giving George Bush the Texas Governor’s mansion, leading to his eventual ascendance to the White House?

The answer: Her vetoing a handgun carry bill after a woman who had a gun in her vehicle (but couldn’t carry it on her person due to state laws at the time) in Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, could have shot the guy who killed her parents and 18 other people. The people of Texas didn’t particularly care for a Governor who did not listen to that, and they tossed her out.

That stupid mistake gave us Chimpy, Darth Cheney, Karl Rove, at least 10 anti-gay state constitutional DOMA’s, trillions dollars in war debt, tax cuts for those who didn’t need it, blowing a hole in our deficit, thousands of American troops dead, tens of thousands of Iraqi’s dead, the USA PATRIOT Act, “enhanced interrogation and rendition”. Need I go on?

We also had 6 years of GOP Congress before him, due to Clinton making the same stupid mistake. We would have had some form of universal healthcare 16 years earlier if he kept Congress Democratic? Most likely.

Gray Coyote

“But even more it’s our American culture, where we worship violence but treat normal human biological processes as shameful. Where we do not prosecute those who engage in torture, but do issue fines if someone accidentally flashes a nipple on TV.”

I One Hundred Percent agree with you there. I have little tolerance for the torture the government does in our name, or the drone bombing of innocent civilians in Pakistan, or “decency standards” crap. It’s one of the reasons we’re moving away from terrestrial TV to things like Hulu, Netflix, and cable/premium cable away from the nanny state of “OMG, you can only show a butt, no boobies” crap.

Gray Coyote

“Not long ago people said that there would never be such a thing as Gay Marriage and that the best that they could ever hope for was civil unions.”

Actually, marriage was pursued legally first, before settlements were made for civil unions after the Amendment 2 loss in Hawaii. Vermont was the first state to pass a “Civil Union” law. It was converted by the Legislature 9 years later to marriage.

I’m of the belief that marriage should have been made available to states from the gays since the 14th amendment was ratified in 1868, and the same with sodomy laws being unconstitutional.

There was no DOMA constitutional amendment in force when all of that was occurring. The 2nd amendment, however, is still in effect.

“Not long ago people said that Marijuana would never be legal.”

2 states have made it legal, including mine, plus marriage equality. I’m proud and glad of that. Government has no business regulating a fucking plant (which I don’t personally use), nor do they have any business doing a TSA style grope check before issuing one a marriage license.

“Not long ago people said America would never elect a black President.”

Which required a civil war, plus 3 constitutional amendments, to have that occur, almost 160 years before the President was elected.

“I love it when people say something definite like this, because it assures me that change can come.”

38 states will not ratify a repeal of the 2nd amendment. 44 states (I was wrong on the number by 2) have state RKBA clauses.

Considering that only about 26% nationwide support handgun bans, and probably much less support a total firearm ban as suggested by Aravosis & myrrdin, it would take a centuries long battle, if ever, to do so. Even if nationwide support where around 65-70 percent for a total gun ban, the residents of 13 states will block a 2A repeal/grant of total power to regulate guns.

There will always be 13 states to block the proposal to repeal 2A, just like there will always be 13 states to block a super-DOMA amendment once SCOTUS strikes down the gay marriage bans nationwide and the religious right goes into a convulsive tizzy of crazy over the idea of gays getting married nationwide.

The future of America is that of a gay couple who can smoke a bowl in their own home responsibly like one can with drinking alcohol, and have an rifle & shotgun in their closet and a handgun for carry outside of the home. You mixing racial politics, War on Drugs politics, and gay equality politics in some sort of tension & opposition to gun ownership is extremely strange. The freedom & equality politics of those three things don’t mesh up squarely with the desire to ban all guns.

I grew up in a gun-owning family. I’ve hunted deer, rabbits, pheasants, squirrels, and wild turkeys and more. I believe I understand at least some of the motivation behind those who want guns to protect themselves.

And yet…

And yet I get how if you can’t protect yourself with one gun, ten guns are not any more effective. How if you can’t do it with one or two bullets, a dozen from a semi-automatic won’t do it either. How if you cannot hit a target with one or two shots, there really is no point to giving you 10 or 12 repeats.

I also ‘get’ how if you yourself are a responsible, sane individual, but you live with someone who is neither sane nor responsible, you still might not be able, willing, or legally obliged to keep your firearms away from the crazy person. However, I do not understand how it is that being able to carry a concealed weapon in a supermarket, library, shopping mall, theater, or school will make you or anyone around you safer.

The problem is partly the guns, as I see it. But even more it’s our American culture, where we worship violence but treat normal human biological processes as shameful. Where we do not prosecute those who engage in torture, but do issue fines if someone accidentally flashes a nipple on TV.

We worship death, and pillory life. This is what is wrong with us.

Freedonian

I would hope that within two centuries, we might be able to ‘set phasers on stun’, but for the foreseeable future I cannot imagine the 2nd Amendment going anywhere, the President carried 26 states in this last election and with the gain in GOP majorities in state legislatures [+ a GOP House], any such plan would be short lived indeed.

While these types of mass murder incidents are now being reported in the 24/7 news cycle echo chamber and made to seem more ghastly than they already are, the truth is that violent crime overall in the nation has been cut in half over the last two decades, and in that time the ‘Assault Weapons Ban’ has come and gone without having very much effect on the decline either way.

I have no idea what an acceptable working solution should be, but a gun ban is just not going to happen. The first AWB led to a GOP takeover in Congress, I doubt that Democrats would repeat that mistake.

It is time for fresh thinking all the way around.

TuxedoCartman

Agreed.

FunMe

Well said!

met00

Not long ago people said that there would never be such a thing as Gay Marriage and that the best that they could ever hope for was civil unions. Not long ago people said that Marijuana would never be legal. Not long ago people said America would never elect a black President.

I love it when people say something definite like this, because it assures me that change can come.

“In the past four years, across 37 states, the NRA and its political allies have pushed through 99 laws making guns easier to own, easier to carry in public, and harder for the government to track.”

SERIOUSLY? And we are debating whether we should have gun control laws? Really? It’s EASIER to own a gun than ever before? ENOUGH!

WarrenHart

I lost both my sisters when I was a kid and over night ended up the being the only kid. I can relate to that, It’s tough. You have to deal with crippling survivors guilt and wounds to the family to that are very very difficult to overcome. Hope all the survivors can get whatever support it takes for them to move beyond this if that is even possible. It’s going to be a lifelong thing for them.

I just got done watching an interview Ashleigh Banfield was doing with two teenagers. She asks the young boy if he was phased by this incident, and he said no, like it never happened.

I wish there was a way I could apologize to America’s youth. I would tell them how deeply sorry I am that our country has sunk to this low place where people are unmoved by these massacres. I’d tell them that there once was a time when mass murder was shocking and traumatizing. What are we doing?

My generation’s innocence was stripped from us. My adolescence began with watching 3,000 human beings be murdered right before my eyes. When that second plane hit, I knew our country would never be the same again. My generation watched for the next decade as our country sink into fear, hysteria and war so deep that numbness is now normal. We have to reverse this trend for the next generations.

Gray Coyote

Article V states you need 34 states to call a constitutional convention (or 2/3rds of Congress in both houses assembled), and then 38 states to ratify, according to the thing Myrrdin posted.

Spitting on the politicians you need to get something done is not how you get things accomplished. There will always be at least 13 states to block a 2A repeal amendment, for at least the next two centuries, if not longer.

What is the cost for any idiot to be able to own a gun. Today it is the lives of 20 children. The NRA probably thinks that is a small price to pay for all the money they will make from all of the cowards that are going to go and buy additional guns or their first gun.

We are in the battle of our lives

We must fight back, and we CAN win this. But it will take hard work and time. I am already making preparations for a wide-ranging campaign to fight Trump's Cabinet appointees and supreme court nominations. As part of that effort, when my lease is up in NYC, I will be moving back to Washington, DC, to take the fight directly to Donald Trump.

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